


I'm With You

by Robin_Fai



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Gwaine (Merlin), First Kiss, Flirting, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), Gwaine Flirts (Merlin), Gwaine's Hair (Merlin), I love all the tags for Gwaine, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Merlin is So Done (Merlin), Slow Dancing, little bit of swearing, merwaine - Freeform, terrible sixth form/college parties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28616931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robin_Fai/pseuds/Robin_Fai
Summary: Merlin is regretting coming to Arthur's party. People keep asking him to dance. Pity that it's the hottest guy he's ever seen that ends up getting on the wrong end of his temper.
Relationships: Gwaine/Merlin (Merlin)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 86





	I'm With You

**Author's Note:**

> I know I’m almost a month late with the final two chapters of Camelot Come Dancing but this just would not leave me alone from the moment I thought of it. My apologies to anyone waiting - I've not abandoned it and hope to get the final bit up soon. 
> 
> I hate to admit it but this is based very loosely on something that happened to me when I was a teenager. Spare a thought for my poor awkward teenage self making a fool of herself.

Merlin wished he had said no to this party. He should have known that the week after he accidentally came out to the whole sixth form was bound to be full of idiots. Arthur had invited him though, and for some foolish reason he was still so impressed whenever he was included as one of the friends of the most popular boy in school that he automatically said yes.

It was an impressive party, that much he had to admit. The Pendragons had hired out a function room in the fanciest hotel in Camelot. The catering, décor, and entertainment were all arranged by professionals. Merlin had openly laughed when he was offered a canapé by a waiter. 

The problem came when you took a load of teenagers, many of whom were only just old enough to drink, and many who weren’t but no one was stopping them being passed drinks by the older ones, and gave them a free bar. Within an hour the band hired for the event had been banished and someone had hooked the speakers up to their music. Lights had been turned down, music turned up, and the bar drained. An hour was all it had taken for the thing to go from classy drinks reception to impromptu club night.

Merlin had been hiding in the corner of the room ever since things got loud. The rugby team had cleared the tables to the edges of the room to make a dance floor and most people were now flinging themselves about on it, if they weren’t propping up what remained of the bar that is. He quite liked dancing usually but now he wanted to try and avoid too much attention. Lads from his year kept coming up and asking him to dance. Every time they would go away laughing before he could say a word. He hated that his school was so damned old fashioned. The casual homophobia was getting tiring and he’d only been putting up with it for a week. 

Gwen joined him after a while. He was surprised she wasn’t more interested in dancing but apparently even her status as Arthur’s girlfriend didn’t make her immune to the sexist actions of the idiots that went to his school. Merlin almost envied her going to the relatively normal St Catherine’s until he remembered that would mean being around Morgana and Morgause. 

He had his back to the rest of the room, facing Gwen who was leaning up against the wall, when it happened.

There was a tap on his shoulder.

“Would you like to dance with me?”

Merlin closed his eyes and exhaled trying to remain calm as he waited for the laughter, but it didn’t come. This particular idiot obviously wanted to see his reaction before running off back into the heaving mass of hormones that was now the centre of the room.

“Look, why don’t you just _fuck off!_ ” Merlin spun around, ready to emphasise his point further if necessary, only to be met with an unfamiliar and incredibly cute face. 

The man before him was evidently a couple of years older than him, had the most adorable brown eyes, and long, luscious hair that wouldn’t look out of place in a shampoo commercial. 

Merlin drew a breath in surprise. _Fuck..._ It was unfair for anyone to be so attractive.

Said cute face had been grinning widely, but was now looking hurt. Merlin’s heart sank.

“Oh, sorry mate,” the guy who had asked him to dance said. He held up his hands, “didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, wait-” 

Merlin tried to think past his overwhelming attraction to the guy. What if this was an even more elaborate prank? What if the suited amoeba he had to endure at school had now outsourced their torment of him to further his misery?

The grin once again lit up the face of the guy Merlin was contemplating.

“Look, it’s not a problem if you don’t want to dance with me. I totally get it. I am a complete stranger after all.”

And then he winked. He actually winked at him. Merlin wondered if it was possible to pass out from blushing too hard.

“No!” Merlin said hastily. “No, it’s not that I don’t want to dance with you. I do want to. I just… I thought…”

Behind him Merlin was fairly sure he could hear Gwen suppressing a fit of giggles. He resolved to kill her later.

“Perhaps we should try this again? My name’s Gwaine, it’s a pleasure to meet you…?” Gwaine gave an exaggerated bow and looked to Merlin for his name.

“Merlin.” 

“Pleasure to meet you, Merlin.” Gwaine stepped closer and lifted Merlin’s hand, placing a soft kiss to his knuckles. “Would you do me the honour of dancing with me?”

Merlin was fairly certain his blush could illuminate the entire darkened room with its intensity. 

“What century are you living in?”The words were out before he could think about them. Why was he absolutely incapable of responding to people without shooting himself in the foot with his sarcasm.

Gwaine surprised him by laughing at his reply. 

“Was that a yes or a no?”

“Yes. Alright then. I’ll dance. With you.” Forming sentences was hard when someone as hot as Gwaine was asking him to dance.

Gwaine just smiled at him and led him over to the dance floor space. As they got there the upbeat song that had been playing ended and a slow dance started up. 

“You can change your mind if you want to,” Merlin said, feeling more awkward than ever.

Gwaine simply swept him into a close hold and began slow dancing with him. 

Merlin’s brain short circuited. He was actually dancing with someone. This was not just the jumping around he used to do at school discos with Will and Freya before he moved to Camelot, nor the very formal steps he had learned with Gwen at an evening class they held in his mother’s cafe, this was something else entirely. He was dancing with the hottest guy he had ever met to some trashy pop ballad and everyone could be staring at him right now, judging him, and he couldn’t care less. He leaned in to Gwaine’s hold, swaying with the rhythm, and just let himself enjoy the moment. 

When the song ended another stranger came up and dragged Gwaine away with some comment about owing him a drink. Gwaine shot Merlin a wink and a wave as he was leaving. Merlin remained frozen at the edge of the dance floor. Had that really just happened? 

Arthur appeared at his side, startling Merlin out of the trance he’d fallen into.

“So… Dancing with Gwaine, eh?”

Merlin looked to Arthur, “you know him?”

“Yes, he’s on the Camelot youth team with me.”

“Oh,” that would explain the muscles, the firm chest, and strong arms. Merlin was back into daydreaming.

“Yeah, he’s a bit of a joker, but he’s a decent guy.” Arthur glanced sidelong at Merlin before continuing, “he probably asked you for a bet, you know?”

Merlin felt a cold, sick feeling settle into the pit of his stomach. 

“They’re always daring each other to do things. Perce, Elyan, and Gwaine are terrible for it,” Arthur said, with what Merlin was horrified to realise was pity in his voice. He wanted to say something, anything, to show that he was fine with it, but his mouth wasn’t working.

Arthur clapped him on the shoulder much harder than was necessary and Merlin buckled under the force of it.

“I knew it was probably a joke or something,” Merlin forced himself to say when he’d recovered from the beating that passed for Arthur’s attempt at consolation.

“Sure.”

They stood in awkward silence watching everyone throwing themselves around to the upbeat song that had come on next. Merlin felt strangely disconnected from it all.

“I think I’ll head home now. Mum isn’t keen on me driving after 10pm.”

“Right,” Arthur nodded, “see you on Monday then.” 

“Yeah, see you then,” Merlin said and began weaving his way through the crowd to the exit. 

Once he was out into the blissfully quiet lobby of the hotel he allowed the fixed grin he’d put on for Arthur’s sake to slip. He retrieved his coat from the store and made his way out of the building, digging in his pockets for his car keys. As he reached the corner of the street he heard someone calling after him and the sound of running feet. He turned around to find Gwaine just catching up to him.

“Merlin! You ducking out without saying goodbye?” Gwaine was smiling that damned gorgeous smile again, but this time it looked a little uncertain.

“Sorry, I’ve got to get home,” Merlin mumbled.

“Aw, but I was hoping to get another chance to dance with you. Or to ask for your number at least.”

“My number?”

Gwaine laughed at Merlin’s evident confusion, “your phone number.”

“Yes, I got that, but I mean- why would you want my number?”

“So I could call you of course. How else would I ask you out? Turning up at your school would probably be a bit stalkerish and, anyway, I’m not legally allowed on the grounds.”

“You’re legally banned from my school?!” Merlin knew he was focussing on the wrong issue but he had been completely blind-sided by this conversation.

Gwaine shrugged, looking sheepish. “Er… yeah, I kind of got expelled.”

“What for?”

“Well, there were a lot of incidents really, but the one that clinched it was turning the stairwell of the English block into a waterslide.”

Merlin blinked, he was pure confusion now. What was going on? 

“How on earth did you… No, actually, never mind.”

“So… Can I have it then?”

“What?”

“Your number.”

“Oh. Right.” Merlin took a moment to try and think of something sensible to say but once again he was thrown off by how utterly good looking Gwaine was. Eventually he settled for the direct approach. “You really want to ask me out?”

“Of course I do,” Gwaine’s smile was radiant.

It hadn’t even been an hour since he first saw it and Merlin was fairly certain he would die for that smile.

“But I thought…”

Gwaine was now the one to look confused, “what did you think?”

“I thought you asked me for a bet, or a dare or joke or whatever.”

“Well, yeah,” Gwaine laughed, matter of fact, “but it was the easiest bet I’ve ever won. Betting my fabulous bi self that I won’t have the guts to ask the cutest boy in the room to dance? Really, Elyan should know better. I’m glad he did though because I hadn’t noticed you hiding away in that corner and if he hadn’t then I wouldn’t have got to dance with you.”

“Oh.” Merlin was perplexed. Gwaine thought he was cute? Cuter than all the rest of the boys there? Surely that couldn’t be right.

“So, does that mean I’ve blown my chances with you then?” Gwaine continued, “I know it’s not exactly romantic as a start to things but if I’d seen you before Elyan made that bet then I’d definitely have asked you to dance before he could. You really are cute and I’d be an idiot to let you go without even trying to win you over.”

Merlin opened his mouth to say something nice about Gwaine in return but what actually came out was; “do you always talk this much?”

“No. Do you always talk this little?”

Merlin snorted, “definitely not.”

“Mind if I find a less verbal way to convince you to go out with me?”

“I…” Merlin’s breath caught in his throat. Did that mean what he thought it meant? Only one way to find out. “Alright.”

Gwaine closed the distance between them and pressed a gentle kiss to Merlin’s lips.

Five minutes later Gwaine had Merlin’s full name, phone number, address, age, height, opinions on cats... and Merlin had found his voice again.

**Author's Note:**

> Colin Morgan is a year older than me so by my logic he would’ve danced to the same gloriously bad songs I was subjected to. This thought led me to looking up what the slow dance songs typically were when I was going to sixth form parties and… yeah… I spent so much time laughing at the painfully awkward romantic songs I had happily repressed until now. Do you know how bad the earworms I’ve given myself are for the sake of a oneshot fic?!? The one that has been in my head a week now has been awarded the crown of most irritating in the form of the title of this fic. The worst bit is I didn’t even name the song they dance to in this fic so I’ve done this to myself for nothing.


End file.
